Page 24 - Georgia Forestry - Summer 2017

Tariff Turmoil
Tariffs don’t matter.
The softwood lumber story has already been written. Most incremental lumber production in North America will occur in the U.S. South for decades.
Editorial by
Dr. Brooks Mendell, Forisk Consulting
In April 2017, the U.S. imposed a 20 percent tariff on the imports of softwood lumber from Canada. Tariffs are taxes placed on imported goods or services. Countries use tariffs to restrict trade, to protect domes- tic industries, to raise revenue...to achieve something. This tariff is the latest step in
an ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada. Ultimately, though, it won’t have much of an impact.
Years ago, I heard Steve Chercover, a forest industry analyst, talk about the U.S. softwood lumber dispute with Canada. To paraphrase, he
22 | GEORGIA FORESTRY
STEPHEN B. MORTON